Traditional printing devices rely on a mechanically operated carriage to transport a print head in a linear direction as other mechanics advance a medium in an orthogonal direction. As the print head moves over the medium an image may be laid down. Portable printers have been developed through technologies that reduce the size of the operating mechanics. However, the principles of providing relative movement between the print head and medium remain the same as traditional printing devices. Accordingly, these mechanics limit the reduction of size of the printer as well as the material that may be used as the medium.
The mechanized motion of the print head and medium in traditional printing devices allow for image data to be queued up in a predetermined and predictable manner. The print head will advance over the medium at a rate that will allow all of the necessary ink to be deposited at each location. Once the print head has passed over a sufficient amount of the surface of the medium to print the image in memory, the print job is complete.
While this image feed may work well with traditional printers, the random motion of a handheld printing device prevents a similar reliance on the steady, consistent, and predictable advancement of the print head over the surface of the medium.